What Is Sleep Paralysis

 What Is Sleep Paralysis

   

At least four to six times a night the body switches between REM (Rapid Eye Movement) and NREM (Non-Rapid Eye Movement) cycles during the course of the night. During this phase of wakefulness or sleep, you cannot move or speak for a few seconds or a few minutes.

    

Sleep paralysis can include hypnagogic hallucinations such as supernatural beings that suffocate or scare people and is often accompanied by a feeling of pressure in the chest and difficulty breathing. Sleep paralysis can also be a sign of narcolepsy, a sleep disorder that leads to extreme drowsiness and sudden fall asleep during the day. Some people wake up trying to get back to sleep after a prolonged period of sleep deprivation.

    

During an episode of sleep paralysis, your brain tells the body that you are in the rapid eye movement (REM) stage, but the limbs are paralyzed and prevented from acting like a dream, heart rate and blood pressure increase, and breathing becomes irregular and shallow. This type of paralysis occurs when the brain goes from sleep to wakefulness or from wakefulness to sleep. The basic symptoms of sleep paralysis occur during a sleep / wake-up phase, and the person feels awake and aware of the symptoms.

    

In addition to the brief loss of muscle control (known as Atonia) after falling asleep or waking up, some people exhibit hallucinations during episodes of sleep paralysis. Isolated symptoms of sleep paralysis that are not related to the underlying diagnosis of narcolepsy, a neurological disorder which blocks the brain from controlling alertness, can also lead to sleep paralysis. Sleep paralysis refers to the phenomenon in which consciousness restoration occurs during muscle atony or REM (rapid eye movement) while sleep is being maintained, resulting in intense anxiety and anxiety in patients when they are awake without being able to use any part of their body.

    

Although these paralysis symptoms can be scary, they do not in themselves pose a serious medical risk and should not prevent you from getting the sleep you need.

    

People with certain medical or mental illnesses such as narcolepsy are more likely to report episodes of sleep paralysis. People with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are for example twice as likely to suffer from sleep disorders as the average person. If you have a sleep disorder, treatment can help prevent paralysis.

    

Narcolepsy involves entering REM sleep and experiencing a phase called non-rapid eye movement sleep (NREM) during the night and the day. People with anaesthesia experience a temporary inability to move or speak when they fall asleep or wake up. About 15 minutes after falling asleep, they go into REM sleep.

    

Narcolepsy is a neurological disorder that affects the control of sleep and alertness in the brain. Narcolepsy includes periods of excessive drowsiness in the daytime, for example if a person has no control over falling asleep in the middle of an active day. Sleep paralysis can also occur in healthy people with symptoms of the disorder, as well as cataplexy and hypnagogic hallucinations. In many cases, the two terms are combined to describe a condition called Recurrent Isolated Sleep Paralysis (RISP), which involves persistent cases of sleep paralysis but is not anesthesia because the neurological disorder prevents the brain from controlling wakefulness and leads to sleep paralysis.

    

Sleep paralysis occurs when there is an interruption in the sleep cycle, and it is possible that the sleep cycle is interrupted in such a way that you experience vivid, dreamlike hallucinations or your dream state, which the brain interprets as real but which is actually something else.

    

Rapid, irregular breathing can occur during REM sleep, and people who suffer from sleep paralysis may have difficulty breathing and may experience asphyxiation. People often seek explanations for mysterious sleep paralysis, which is often accompanied by feelings of horror. Sleep researchers believe that hypnotic hallucinations can explain stories of nocturnal abductions of aliens and demons in the bedroom.

    

One reason that people are more likely to experience sleep paralysis in the morning is that in the morning the rapid eye movement sleep associated with vivid dreaming prevails. Other elements of a living dream sleep can persist even after waking up, even if the experience of REM phases is disturbed.

    

Every time your eyes move during a dream as part of a rapid eye movement (REM sleep), your muscles are relaxed. Due to the effect of atonia, which helps to prevent the act of dreaming, mental images seem to remain in a state of consciousness and wakefulness during REM sleep.

    

We spoke to sleep disorder expert Alicia Roth, PhD, about what causes the disease and what you should know when you experience it. Sleep paralysis, a condition in which a person awakens unable to move, can happen to anyone, and although it can feel frightening, Dr. Roth assures us that it is indeed a benign condition. There is still much unknown about sleep paralysis, but a review of its types, symptoms, causes and effects on treatment will provide a better understanding of the disorder and how to prevent it.

    

Sleep paralysis (SP) is characterized by altered motor, perceptual, emotional and cognitive functions such as inability to perform voluntary movements, visual hallucinations, chest pressure, delusions of terrifying presence and, in some cases, fear of imminent death. A study released in the online supplement of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and Sleep Research Societies, Sleep, in 2018, found that reported sleep paralysis in students is associated with depression.

How To Prevent Sleep Paralysis

How To Prevent Sleep Paralysis

    

The basic symptom of sleep paralysis occurs when someone falls asleep and wakes up during an episode in which the person feels awake and aware of a loss of muscle control. Moreover, a temporary, brief loss of muscle control, known as muscle atonia, can wake someone who has fallen asleep, and about 75% of all insomnia symptoms are accompanied by bizarre, terrifying visual hallucinations. But in addition to the atony that occurs after falling asleep and waking up, some people also have hallucinations during sleep disturbances.

    

Although sleep paralysis itself is not harmful to you, frequent episodes have been linked to worrying sleep disorders such as narcolepsy. Sleep paralysis is a regular phenomenon in anesthesia, a sleep disorder that disrupts a person's ability to stay awake. This is not only associated with sleep paralysis, but also with waking hallucinations (also called hypnagogic hallucinations), when one falls asleep (also called hypnagogic hallucinations) after falling asleep. During the day, the muscle tone loses and at night is poor sleep quality.

    

For example, people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are more likely to have sleep disorders than the average person. Sleep paralysis can be accompanied by chest pressure, difficulty breathing, headaches, muscle tension, general pain or pain and prolonged episodes besides the inability to move muscles. Due to the severity of the disease, mental health can also be affected during episodes, with intense feelings of fear of death or paranoia, often accompanied by hallucinations.

    

Whatever contributes to these cases, it is important to treat the underlying sleep disorder or mental illness, as this can help prevent sleep paralysis and improve overall health. If you have a sleep disorder, treatment can also help prevent paralysis.

    

The most important thing that you can do to reduce your risk of a single episode is to get enough sleep, preferably at least eight hours a night.

    

For most people, the best method is to stick to a regular sleep schedule. When an episode of sleep paralysis is triggered by a night-time awakening, REM techniques can help improve sleep consistency and continuity. Going to bed at the same time every day and waking up and promoting a regular sleep schedule can help prevent episodes of insomnia.

    

Common causes include insomnia (lack of sleep at night), narcolepsy (drowsiness at night and loss of muscle control), family history of sleep paralysis or other relatives sleeping on their backs, disturbed sleep patterns due to work shifts, jet lag, sleep apnea or other psychiatric or mental disorders. Changes in sleeping times, sleeping on your back, taking certain medications, stress and other sleep-related problems such as anaesthesia can also play a role. Good sleeping habits include regular sleep and waking up, avoiding television, playing with a laptop or mobile phone before bed, avoiding afternoon naps and avoiding stimulants that are too close to bedtime.

    

Isolated insomnia may not be related to the underlying diagnosis of narcolepsy, a neurological disorder that inhibits the brain from controlling alertness and leads to sleep paralysis. However, if the episodes continue, a sleep specialist should diagnose narcolepsy sleep paralysis.

    

During an episode of sleep paralysis, your brain tells the body that you are in the rapid eye movement (REM) stage, but the limbs are paralyzed and prevented from acting like a dream, heart rate and blood pressure increase, and breathing becomes irregular and shallow. Sleep paralysis refers to the phenomenon in which consciousness is restored during muscular atrophy (REM), but the rapid movement of sleep is maintained, leading to intense anxiety and anxiety in patients when they are awake without being able to use any part of their body.

    

Rapid and irregular breathing occurs during REM sleep, and people who suffer from sleep paralysis may have difficulty breathing and may experience asphyxiation. People often seek explanations for this mysterious sleep-time paralysis, which is often accompanied by feelings of horror.

    

The REM rebound occurs when you don't get enough sleep, your circadian rhythm is disrupted by jet lag, shifts at work, or non-compliance with a regular sleep-wake schedule. During sleep, the body is unable to move the muscles around the eyes or use breathing, which prevents the person from behaving as if in a dream or hurting himself. It is unclear whether the REM sleep time occurs while the person is awake.

    

If you suffer from persistent and troublesome symptoms of insomnia, it is a good idea to talk to your doctor to rule out other sleep disorders such as narcolepsy. Your doctor will also check for underlying sleep problems such as anaesthesia and sleep apnea.

    

Some research suggests that sedatives such as benzodiazepines can increase the risk of sleep disturbances and paralysis. In talk therapy it is also vital that you address other mental health problems such as chronic anxiety, depression and PTSD, all of which can increase the risk of sleep paralysis as mentioned above.

    

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for insomnia is a form of talk therapy that aims to reformulate negative thoughts and emotions that affect sleep. It has also been shown to treat mental illnesses such as anxiety and PTSD, factors that affect the risk of sleep paralysis. In some cases, you may benefit from CBT for repeat sleep paralysis, including learning techniques to interrupt sleep paralysis symptoms with moments of relaxation, skills to manage hallucinations and healthier thoughts about sleep paralysis that do not feed into the experience. Another type of CBT, CBT for treating insomnia, teaches relaxation techniques that can be useful to improve your sleep hygiene and get better sleep.

    

Examples include the Sleep Paralysis Experience Phenomenology Questionnaire (SP-EPQ) and the Unusual Sleep Experience Questionnaire (USEQ).Q Several questionnaires assess risk factors for sleep paralysis, including the Beck Depression Inventory, the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, the clinically administered PTSD Scale, the Hamington Anxiety Rating Scale and the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale.